Editing Bulgaria (section)

=== Third Bulgarian state ===
{{Main|History of Bulgaria (1878–1946)|People's Republic of Bulgaria|History of Bulgaria since 1989}}
[[File:Bulgaria-SanStefano -(1878)-byTodorBozhinov.png|upright=1.2|left|alt=Map of Bulgaria according to the Treaty of San Stefano|thumb|Borders of Bulgaria according to the preliminary Treaty of San Stefano]]

The [[Treaty of San Stefano]] was signed on 3 March 1878 by [[Russian Empire|Russia]] and the [[Ottoman Empire]]. It was to set up an autonomous Bulgarian principality spanning [[Moesia]], [[Macedonia (region)|Macedonia]] and [[Thrace]], roughly on the territories of the [[Second Bulgarian Empire]],{{Sfn|San Stefano, Berlin and Independence}}<ref>{{cite book |last=Blamires |first=Cyprian |title=World Fascism: A Historical Encyclopedia |publisher=ABC-CLIO |page=107 |year=2006 |isbn=978-1-57607-940-9 |url={{Google books|jR98-nvD2rZSVau4C |page=107 |plainurl=yes}} |quote=The "Greater Bulgaria" re-established in March 1878 on the lines of the medieval Bulgarian empire after liberation from Turkish rule did not last long.}}{{dead link|date=July 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> and this day is now [[Public holidays in Bulgaria|a public holiday]] called [[Liberation Day (Bulgaria)|National Liberation Day]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://bnr.bg/en/post/100803129/on-march-3-bulgaria-celebrates-national-liberation-day |title=On March 3 Bulgaria celebrates National Liberation Day |date=3 March 2017 |website=Radio Bulgaria |access-date=24 February 2019 |archive-date=21 October 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211021235416/http://bnr.bg/en/post/100803129/on-march-3-bulgaria-celebrates-national-liberation-day |url-status=live }}</ref> The other [[Great Powers#History|Great Powers]] immediately rejected the treaty out of fear that such a large country in the [[Balkans]] might threaten their interests. It was superseded by the [[Treaty of Berlin, 1878|Treaty of Berlin]], signed on 13 July. It provided for a much smaller state, the [[Principality of Bulgaria]], only comprising Moesia and the region of [[Sofia]], and leaving large populations of ethnic Bulgarians outside the new country.{{Sfn|San Stefano, Berlin and Independence}}<ref name=BBCProfile>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/country_profiles/1061402.stm |title=Timeline: Bulgaria – A chronology of key events |work=BBC News |date=6 May 2010 |access-date=20 December 2011 |archive-date=7 March 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150307084019/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/country_profiles/1061402.stm |url-status=live }}</ref> This significantly contributed to Bulgaria's militaristic foreign affairs approach during the first half of the 20th century.{{Sfn|Historical Setting}}

The Bulgarian principality won [[Serbo-Bulgarian War|a war against Serbia]] and incorporated the semi-autonomous Ottoman territory of [[Eastern Rumelia]] in 1885, proclaiming itself an independent state on 5 October 1908.{{Sfn|Crampton|2007|page=174}} In the years following independence, Bulgaria increasingly militarised and was often referred to as "the Balkan [[Prussia]]".<ref>{{cite book |last=Pinon |first=Rene |title=L'Europe et la Jeune Turquie: Les Aspects Nouveaux de la Question d'Orient |trans-title=Europe and Young Turkey: The new aspects of the Eastern Question |publisher=Perrin et cie |page=411 |year=1913 |isbn=978-1-144-41381-9 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xL9DAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA411 |quote=On a dit souvent de la Bulgarie qu'elle est la Prusse des Balkans |language=fr |access-date=3 March 2024 |archive-date=15 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230115222516/https://books.google.com/books?id=xL9DAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA411 |url-status=live }}</ref> It became involved in three consecutive conflicts between 1912 and 1918—two [[Balkan Wars]] and [[World War I]]. After a disastrous defeat in the [[Second Balkan War]], Bulgaria again found itself fighting on the losing side as a result of its alliance with the [[Central Powers]] in World War I. Despite fielding more than a quarter of its population in a 1,200,000-strong army<ref>{{cite book |last1=Tucker |first1=Spencer C |last2=Wood |first2=Laura |title=The European Powers in the First World War: An Encyclopedia |publisher=Taylor & Francis |page=173 |year=1996 |isbn=978-0-8153-0399-2 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EHI3PCjDtsUC&pg=PA173 |access-date=3 March 2024 |archive-date=15 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230115222516/https://books.google.com/books?id=EHI3PCjDtsUC&pg=PA173 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.cepr.org/meets/wkcn/1/1699/papers/Broadberry_Klein.pdf |title=Aggregate and Per Capita GDP in Europe, 1870–2000: Continental, Regional and National Data with Changing Boundaries |last1=Broadberry |first1=Stephen |last2=Klein |first2=Alexander |date=8 February 2008 |publisher=[[Centre for Economic Policy Research]] |page=18 |access-date=24 May 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120622094503/http://www.cepr.org/meets/wkcn/1/1699/papers/Broadberry_Klein.pdf |archive-date=22 June 2012}}</ref> and achieving several decisive victories at [[Battle of Doiran (1917)|Doiran]] and [[Battle of Monastir (1917)|Monastir]], the country capitulated in 1918. The war resulted in significant territorial losses and a total of 87,500 soldiers killed.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.pbs.org/greatwar/resources/casdeath_pop.html |title=WWI Casualty and Death Tables |publisher=PBS |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161003230916/https://www.pbs.org/greatwar/resources/casdeath_pop.html |archive-date=3 October 2016 |access-date=28 July 2018}}</ref> More than 253,000 refugees from the lost territories [[Immigration|immigrated]] to Bulgaria from 1912 to 1929,<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Mintchev |first1=Veselin |title=External Migration in Bulgaria |journal=South-East Europe Review |date=October 1999 |issue=3/99 |page=124 |url=http://www.ceeol.com/aspx/getdocument.aspx?logid=5&id=473FBAEF-623D-4ADA-903A-17241B78BDDB |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130117012418/http://www.ceeol.com/aspx/getdocument.aspx?logid=5&id=473FBAEF-623D-4ADA-903A-17241B78BDDB |archive-date=17 January 2013 |access-date=6 August 2018}}</ref> placing additional strain on the already ruined national economy.<ref>{{cite book |last=Chenoweth |first=Erica |title=Rethinking Violence: States and Non-State Actors in Conflict |publisher=Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs |page=129 |year=2010 |isbn=978-0-262-01420-5 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JyD_AmGnu34C&pg=PA129 |access-date=3 March 2024 |archive-date=15 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230115222517/https://books.google.com/books?id=JyD_AmGnu34C&pg=PA129 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Between 19 October 1925 and 29 October 1925, the [[Incident at Petrich]], nicknamed "the War of the Stray Dog" occurred, which was a minor armed conflict. Greece invaded Bulgaria, after the killing of a Greek captain and sentry by Bulgarian soldiers. The conflict was settled by the [[League of Nations]], and resulted in a Bulgarian diplomatic victory. The League ordered a ceasefire, Greek troops to withdraw from Bulgaria and Greece to pay £45,000 to Bulgaria.

[[File:BASA-3K-7-342-28-Boris III of Bulgaria.jpeg|thumb|upright|alt=A portrait of Tsar Boris III|Tsar Boris III]]
The resulting political unrest led to the establishment of a royal [[authoritarianism|authoritarian dictatorship]] by Tsar [[Boris III of Bulgaria|Boris III]] (1918–1943). Bulgaria entered World War II in 1941 as a member of [[Axis powers|the Axis]] but declined to participate in [[Operation Barbarossa]] and [[Rescue of the Bulgarian Jews|saved its Jewish population]] from deportation to [[Nazi concentration camps|concentration camps]].{{Sfn|Bulgaria in World War II: The Passive Alliance}} The sudden death of Boris III in mid-1943 pushed the country into political turmoil as the war turned against Germany, and the communist guerrilla movement gained momentum. The government of [[Bogdan Filov]] subsequently failed to achieve peace with the Allies. Bulgaria did not comply with Soviet demands to expel German forces from its territory, resulting in a declaration of war and an invasion by the USSR in September 1944.{{Sfn|Wartime Crisis}} The communist-dominated [[Fatherland Front (Bulgaria)|Fatherland Front]] took power, ended participation in the Axis and joined the Allied side until the war ended.<ref>{{cite book |last=Pavlowitch |first=Stevan K. |title=Hitler's New Disorder: The Second World War in Yugoslavia |publisher=Columbia University Press |pages=238–240 |year=2008 |isbn=978-0-19-932663-1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=R8d2409V9tEC&pg=PA238 |quote=When Bulgaria switched sides in September |access-date=3 March 2024 |archive-date=15 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230115222517/https://books.google.com/books?id=R8d2409V9tEC&pg=PA238 |url-status=live }}</ref> Bulgaria suffered little war damage and the Soviet Union demanded no reparations. But all wartime territorial gains, with the notable exception of [[Treaty of Craiova|Southern Dobrudzha]], were lost.{{Sfn|The Soviet Occupation}}

[[File:Georgi Dimitrov.jpg|thumb|150px|left|[[Georgi Dimitrov]], leader of the [[Bulgarian Communist Party]] from 1946 to 1949]]
The [[1944 Bulgarian coup d'état|left-wing coup d'état]] of 9 September 1944 led to the abolition of the monarchy and [[People's Court (Bulgaria)|the executions]] of some 1,000–3,000 dissidents, war criminals, and members of the former royal elite.<ref>{{cite book |last=Valentino |first=Benjamin A. |title=Final Solutions: Mass Killing and Genocide in the Twentieth Century |url=https://archive.org/details/finalsolutionsma00vale |url-access=limited |publisher=Cornell University Press |pages=[https://archive.org/details/finalsolutionsma00vale/page/91 91]–151 |year=2005 |isbn=978-0-8014-3965-0}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Stankova |first=Marietta |title=Bulgaria in British Foreign Policy, 1943–1949 |publisher=Anthem Press |page=99 |year=2015 |isbn=978-1-78308-430-2 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=y7G2BgAAQBAJ&pg=PA99 |access-date=3 March 2024 |archive-date=15 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230115222517/https://books.google.com/books?id=y7G2BgAAQBAJ&pg=PA99 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Neuburger |first=Mary C. |title=Balkan Smoke: Tobacco and the Making of Modern Bulgaria |publisher=Cornell University Press |page=162 |year=2013 |isbn=978-0-8014-5084-6 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=E7JDJzogCHMC&pg=PA162 |access-date=3 March 2024 |archive-date=15 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230115222517/https://books.google.com/books?id=E7JDJzogCHMC&pg=PA162 |url-status=live }}</ref> But it was not until 1946 that a [[One-party state|one-party]] [[people's republic]] was instituted following a referendum.{{Sfn|Crampton|2005|page=271}} It fell into the Soviet sphere of influence under the leadership of [[Georgi Dimitrov]] (1946–1949), who established a repressive, rapidly industrialising [[Stalinist]] state.{{Sfn|The Soviet Occupation}} By the mid-1950s, standards of living rose significantly and political repression eased.{{Sfn|Domestic Policy and Its Results|ps=Quote: "real wages increased 75 percent, consumption of meat, fruit, and vegetables increased markedly, medical facilities and doctors became available to more of the population"}}{{Sfn|After Stalin}} The Soviet-style [[planned economy]] saw some experimental market-oriented policies emerging under [[Todor Zhivkov]] (1954–1989).{{Sfn|The Economy}} Compared to wartime levels, national [[Gross domestic product|GDP]] increased five-fold and per capita GDP quadrupled by the 1980s,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.cepr.org/meets/wkcn/1/1699/papers/Broadberry_Klein.pdf |title=Aggregate and per capita GDP in Europe, 1870–2000 |author1=Stephen Broadberry |author2=Alexander Klein |date=27 October 2011 |access-date=12 July 2013 |pages=23, 27 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130530083710/http://www.cepr.org/meets/wkcn/1/1699/papers/Broadberry_Klein.pdf |archive-date=30 May 2013}}</ref> although severe debt spikes took place in 1960, 1977 and 1980.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Vachkov |first1=Daniel |last2=Ivanov |first2=Martin |title=Българският външен дълг 1944–1989: Банкрутът на комунистическата икономика |trans-title=Bulgarian Foreign Debt 1944–1989 |publisher=Siela |pages=103, 153, 191 |year=2008 |isbn=978-9542803072}}</ref> Zhivkov's daughter [[Lyudmila Zhivkova|Lyudmila]] bolstered national pride by promoting Bulgarian heritage, culture and arts worldwide.{{Sfn|The Political Atmosphere in the 1970s}} Facing declining birth rates among the ethnic Bulgarian majority, Zhivkov's government in 1984 forced the minority ethnic [[Bulgarian Turks|Turks]] to adopt Slavic names in an attempt to erase their identity and assimilate them.{{Sfn|Bulgaria in the 1980s}} These policies resulted in the emigration of some 300,000 ethnic Turks to Turkey.<ref>{{cite news |first=Celestine |last=Bohlen |title=Vote Gives Key Role to Ethnic Turks |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1991/10/17/world/bulgaria-vote-gives-key-role-to-ethnic-turks.html |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |date=17 October 1991 |access-date=20 December 2011 |quote=in 1980s&nbsp;... the Communist leader, Todor Zhivkov, began a campaign of cultural assimilation that forced ethnic Turks to adopt Slavic names, closed their mosques and prayer houses and suppressed any attempts at protest. One result was the mass exodus of more than 300,000 ethnic Turks to neighboring [[Turkey]] in 1989 |archive-date=11 May 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110511235325/http://www.nytimes.com/1991/10/17/world/bulgaria-vote-gives-key-role-to-ethnic-turks.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-bulgaria-muslims/cracks-show-in-bulgarias-muslim-ethnic-model-idUSTRE55001C20090601 |title=Cracks show in Bulgaria's Muslim ethnic model |work=Reuters |first=Anna |last=Mudeva |date=31 May 2009 |access-date=30 October 2011 |archive-date=19 October 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171019002528/https://www.reuters.com/article/us-bulgaria-muslims/cracks-show-in-bulgarias-muslim-ethnic-model-idUSTRE55001C20090601 |url-status=live }}</ref>

The Communist Party was forced to give up its political monopoly on 10 November 1989 under the influence of the [[Revolutions of 1989]]. Zhivkov resigned and Bulgaria embarked on a transition to a [[parliamentary system|parliamentary democracy]].{{Sfn|Government and Politics}} The first free elections in June 1990 were won by the Communist Party, now rebranded as the [[Bulgarian Socialist Party]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=117822 |title=Bulgarian Politicians Discuss First Democratic Elections 20y After |publisher=[[Novinite]] |date=5 July 2010 |access-date=20 December 2011 |archive-date=10 December 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111210115345/http://novinite.com/view_news.php?id=117822 |url-status=live }}</ref> A [[Constitution of Bulgaria|new constitution]] that provided for a relatively weak elected president and for a prime minister accountable to the legislature was adopted in July 1991.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.parliament.bg/en/const/ |title=National Assembly of the Republic of Bulgaria – Constitution |website=www.parliament.bg |access-date=16 January 2019 |archive-date=26 May 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220526070900/https://www.parliament.bg/en/const |url-status=live }}</ref> The new system initially failed to improve living standards or create economic growth—the average quality of life and economic performance remained lower than under communism well into the early 2000s.<ref>{{cite news |first=Vasil |last=Prodanov |script-title=bg:Разрушителният български преход |trans-title=The destructive Bulgarian transition |url=http://bg.mondediplo.com/article181.html |newspaper=[[Le Monde diplomatique]] |language=bg |date=1 October 2007 |access-date=20 December 2011 |archive-date=6 February 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100206224143/http://bg.mondediplo.com/article181.html |url-status=live }}</ref> After 2001, economic, political and geopolitical conditions improved greatly,{{Sfn|Library of Congress|2006|page=16}} and Bulgaria achieved high Human Development status in 2003.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://hdr.undp.org/en/media/HDR05_complete.pdf |title=Human Development Index Report |publisher=United Nations |year=2005 |page=224 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110310193948/http://hdr.undp.org/en/media/HDR05_complete.pdf |archive-date=10 March 2011 |access-date=28 July 2018}}</ref> It became a member of [[NATO]] in 2004<ref name="nato" /> and participated in the [[War in Afghanistan (2001–2021)|War in Afghanistan]]. After several years of reforms, it joined the [[European Union]] and the [[European Single Market|single market]] in 2007, despite EU concerns over government corruption.<ref name="Ind" /> Bulgaria hosted the 2018 [[Presidency of the Council of the European Union]] at the [[National Palace of Culture]] in [[Sofia]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bta.bg/en/c/DF/id/1627764 |title=Bulgaria Absolutely Ready to Take Over EU Presidency, Minister Says |publisher=Bulgarian Telegraph Agency |date=2 August 2017 |access-date=21 July 2018 |archive-date=21 July 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180721103133/http://www.bta.bg/en/c/DF/id/1627764 |url-status=live }}</ref>